Just before Christmas I fancied a break from the usual computer programming technical books I usually read and picked up 'Dream On' from my bookshelf. I'd ordered it a while ago as I'd read about John Richardson's challenge in Golf Monthly. This is a story for anybody who played golf as a youngster but then discovered alcohol and the opposite sex and got side tracked from the golfing greatness their teenage minds thought they could achieve!
Johns challenge was to see if he could play 18 holes in level par within 12 months. At the start of the challenge he was going round in over 100 shots so this meant improving his score by around 30 in 365 days. Getting down to 90 and even 80 is certainly doable with lots of practice, but 71 in 12 months is a very respectable challenge.
The book was a very easy read which is just what you need before you head to bed. It seems that John spent a huge amount of time at the driving range which from my own experience only gets you so far. It is always really difficult to find the right balance between working on technical aspects of your swing, playing, short game practice, fitness and the mental side of things. Professional golfers who have all day to spend on these things struggle to find the balance so it's no wonder that John struggled especially with having to keep full time job and family commitments.
There are a few things I've taken from the book - as well as the enjoyment of reading it...
Rhythm to your swing - I've never really thought about the rhythm of my golf swing. I've certainly known that my down swing was definitely faster than my back swing. As I'm currently swinging a bit slower as I get my back used to playing again I'm going to concentrate on the rhythm of my swing and see how things go trying to keep the backswing and downswing a nice steady speed rather than trying to attack the golf ball like a mad man.
Keep going back to basics - this is something I do already during some golf lessons with Neal Granville, but something I need to keep reminding myself. It's so easy to get involved in certain aspects of your swing such as wrist angles and swing planes that you can forget the fundamentals of grip, posture and stance. With all the practice and playing I am going to be doing in 2010 I need to keep reminding myself of these.
Mental side is important - if robots played golf it would be easy for them. Unfortunately us humans have this annoying thing called a brain that keeps getting in our way! We talk ourselves into playing stupid shots we have no chance of pulling off and hitting the ball in the water hazard before we've even started our back swing. I've bought tons of golf books already, I'm addicted to buying books as I'm sure you'll find out as you read more content on here. I've read all of the
Dr Bob Rotella
books - but I'm going to study them again over the course of the year.
Highly recommend this book for golfers of all abilities, and also non-golfers who want something fun to read. This book shows how much dedication and practice is needed to get your handicap down to a very low number.
Buy on Amazon.com
Buy on Amazon.co.uk